Sunday, 14 September 2014

Things this weekend

Hello again :o)

Well, this weekend was a busy one! Two shows over two days with lots of people to talk to and lots of things to look at and do. Sunday evening I looked (and felt) like I had been to some sort of festival...

Saturday was spent at the Swindon 'Steam' festival at the Swindon Steam museum. Its the 3rd year I have done a demo there and it never fails to impress me on the venue, content, and general atmosphere of the place. I mean, how many model railway shows are there each year where the stands and layouts are mixed in with the Great Westerns finest steam locomotives, its such a mecca for people like myself.

I managed to get some modelling done too in the form of putting together my recently CNC milled chassis side frames for the PECO collets I have. It was fairly straight forward as the bits were already ready from the previous attempt so all I needed to do was swap them over to the new frames. I am sure to post about them sometime in the future. I was a little saddened by the performance of some of my engines which had the opportunity to run on Mick S ever excellent Wansbeck Road layout. Its hard not to compare them to Micks and John Gs engines which I know it not a good thing to do. They are in a different league to my modelling abilities and their modelling never ceases to impress me. Its good to have something to aspire to though, and hopefully one-day my modelling will be held in just as much high regard as theirs.

Sunday was spent the the N Gauge show (TINGS) where once again I spent an enjoyable day mingling with other members of the public talking to people and marvelling at all the nice bits and bobs on display. The highlights for me at the show were the following..

B&H Enterprises 3D printed streamlined railcar, fortunately not the later one like my 'Elvis' but the earlier version. It was very well printed and has been duly added to my shopping list.

Osborns models laser cuts buildings and things. They looked really well done and I am looking forward to purchasing some in the near future.

Brixham Bay N Gauge layout, absolutely superb modelling, the buildings were amazing and the whole layout was presented really well. everything was nicely finished and toned down. Definitely the best layout there in my opinion.

The last thing that I feel is worth mentioning is the 3D printed bits from DJM. To me, the display and representations of future models was shockingly bad. So much so that even the guy on the stand seemed embarrassed about them when I spoke to him. NOT a good advert for someone who is trying to gain a foothold into the market and the total opposite to all the hype I have heard about.

Overall I had a brilliant weekend and from what I have heard, it sounds like I made the right choices of what to go to as well.

22 comments:

Sounds like busy weekend Julia. I do like shows that mix full-size and model, Midland Railex is also worth a visit.

Am I right in saying that DJM is DapolDave's new venture, and they haven't actually produced anything yet apart from a mountain of froth? (I do wonder why folk pre-order models from a company without any kind of track record!).

Productive yes, in that I worked overtime both Saturday and Sunday mornings, slept lots in the afternoons and still managed to solder some bits of brass to other bits of brass. I would have liked to go to ExpoEM North but it tends to fall in the overtime season and needs must I'm afraid (especially as two rather interesting kits have recently landed on my doorstep...).

Open your blog overview page, click on 'Layout' on the left hand list, this will allow you to customise your blog page, click on 'Add a Gadget' on the right hand column, which will open a tab, scroll down to 'Blog list' and click on the '+' sign. Not really as confusing as it appears!Clicking on 'Settings' allows you to set up comment moderation, which you might want to use as it means that you have control over comments published.

Oh, and clicking on the little spanner/screwdriver icon which appears next to 'My Blog List' on your blog page allows you to edit that list, adding or deleting blogs. It doesn't seem to automatically list blogs that you follow.

I agree with you but putting aside personalities for a while, it depends upon how aggressive a manufacturer is, a new aggressive manufacturer can have a negative effect on the market by forcing others out of the market, or even worse putting them out of business. High street shops and big chain supermarkets is a classic example.

Thanks for the heads up on Osborn's laser cut kits - I knew they were working on some but didn't realise that they were available yet. Just been having a look on their web site and I can feel my wallet getting slightly lighter - the signal box looks very nice.

I didnt see any for sale but I cannot imagine they are far away from being available. As you say, the buildings look especially nice. I have already requested a nice big engine shed (for a future project of mine)

I am not usually a fan of modular layouts, but the german setup at TINGS kept me coming back for more. Some areas of beautifully observed modelling, and some set pieces I have not seen done before (like the soap box derby). The man mowing his lawn was fun too. And yes, Brixham Bay was inspiring.

Thank you for your kind words, but really there wasn't very much at all wrong with the converted Jinty. My experience with conversions is they do need to be tweaked before they run satisfactorily. So carry on 'teaking...!'

Why a Blog?

This is my Blog where I can document my main hobby. I work in the scale of 2mm:1foot and am a member of the 2mm Scale Association. This is where I can post my ideas, thoughts, and progress on my modelling including my current layout Highclere.